Why This is Good

Aside from the physical description, it is important how you introduce your hero to the audience. When you introduce them, what they are doing, and what they say are going to give your audience their first impression of your hero and set up what they think of them throughout the rest of the script.

Within the first ten pages, as reviewed in the last post, we must establish sympathy for the hero by using one of these techniques.You may choose to introduce your hero in the midst of doing one of these things-maybe the first time we see them they are having a birthday party thrown for them, giving cash to a homeless person, or getting fired or kicking butt at work. But you don’t have to use the sympathy techniques right away. As long as you create empathy within the first ten pages, you can introduce your hero in any way you want. Any way that fits in the story, makes sense for the character, and conveys who they are, that is.

Whether you use these sympathy techniques right away or not, it is important to introduce the hero in the middle of doing something. You don’t want to show them sitting around, sleeping, watching TV, drinking at a bar, driving, or any sedentary, dull activity. Showing an inactive, passive hero makes them come across as a loser. Even if the character starts out as a loser, or is going to grow and change throughout the movie, they can still be active when we first see them.

In Being John Malkovich, one of the first things we see Craig doing is performing with his marionettes. We see that despite his appearance, his weird home, and his depressed attitude, he is a true artist with enormous talent. He starts out as an inactive, uninspired struggling artist, but because of the way we see him in the first few scenes, we understand that he is talented and passionate.

If their job is an important part of the story, and is generally is, even if it is something they will stop doing, introduce them in at the job, doing their normal tasks-as in Jerry Maguire or Tootsie. Seeing them while they are working shows us a lot about them and helps draw the reader into the world of the story-in these cases the world of sports agents and the world of actors in New York city-while also revealing what they do and who they are to the audience. If we see the characters at their job or doing what they love most when they are first introduced, you don’t have to go back and explain, or have the characters unnaturally state in the dialogue that they are an actor or a sports agent. We already know and we understand that this is the essence of who they are and an important part of their life because it is the first thing we see them doing, and first impressions stick.

An important part of the first ten percent is drawing the reader into the world of the story, particularly if it is set in a fantasy realm, or a past or future world we might be unfamiliar with. This can be achieved not only through appropriate description of the setting, which is important, but through your introduction of your hero. Showing the hero interacting in this new world can help draw the reader into the new place in an engaging way that also helps them identify with the hero. In Shrek, the opening sequence where Shrek does all of his odd ogre morning rituals helps us to learn about who Shrek is, what his world is like, and get us comfortable and familiar with this new world. It is an active, interesting and amusing opening and is an excellent example of how to introduce a hero.

Ideally, your hero should be the very first major character that is introduced. The audience at this point is looking for someone to identify with and trying to figure out who the important people are. Sometimes it is not possible to put the hero first, and if this is the case with your story, make it clear when you do introduce the hero that he or she is the hero. Take extra time to describe the hero, but please don’t rely on the cheesy gimmick of talking to your reader by stating in the text that “We find our hero…” or “Our hero, BOB, is busy at work,” etc. Those devices are hackneyed and irritating. If your story and your writing are strong enough, it will be easy to spot the hero.

For more information on the first 10%, check out Michael Hauge’s lecture Grabbing the Reader in the First 10 Pages-available on DVD by clicking here.